Ministry of Health
Services
Ministry of Children and Family Development

B.C. PLAN FOCUSES
ON HEALTHY MINDS, HEALTHY PEOPLE

VANCOUVER – The Province today released a
10-year plan to address mental health and substance use with a focus on
prevention of problems, early intervention, treatment and sustainability.

“The 10-year plan
is a road map to further build on our commitment to improving mental health for
all British Columbians and addressing problematic substance use,” said Health
Services Minister Kevin Falcon. “Government now spends over $1.3 billion
annually – up 47 per cent from 2001 – to address mental health and substance
use problems and we need to ensure dollars are aligned with leading practice
and best evidence.”

Entitled Healthy
Minds, Healthy People, the cross-ministry plan reflects both extensive public
and stakeholder consultation and evidence-based research and practice. It is
aligned with existing child, youth and adult mental health and substance use
strategies across the province, as well as the national mental health
framework.

Healthy Minds,
Healthy People places a strong emphasis on children and families, based on
research that shows that early engagement and access to targeted supports can
prevent or reduce mental illness and substance use problems later in life.

“We know that
mental health problems frequently originate in childhood, and that early
intervention at a young age can help prevent future illness,” said Children and
Family Development Minister Mary Polak. “A strong foundation in childhood sets
the course for a healthy, fulfilling and productive life. The Ministry of
Children and Family Development spends over $100 million annually on a
continuum of child and youth mental health services for children up to age 19
and their families.”

The indirect costs of mental illness and/or substance use are also
significant. Nationally, mental illness is estimated to cost the Canadian
economy around $51 billion annually in lost productivity. B.C.’s proportional
share of this burden would be more than $6.6 billion each year. Indirect annual
costs of lost productivity related to alcohol use alone are estimated at $1.1
billion.

Healthy Minds,
Healthy People acknowledges that mental illness and problematic substance use
can affect people of all ages from all walks of life in school, work and at
home. Around one in five adults in B.C. are affected by mental health or
substance use problems over any twelve-month period. However, the stigma
associated with these problems often means people do not seek out and receive
the supports and services they need.

“The B.C. plan to
address mental health and substance use reaches out to people at home, in
school and at work,” said Michael Kirby, chair of the Mental Health Commission
of Canada. “British Columbia’s plan focuses on prevention, early intervention
as well as treatment. The commission congratulates the B.C. government for this
comprehensive and innovative approach. We are proud to be working together
toward the common goal of transforming the mental health system and improving
the lives of everyone affected by mental health problems.”

Programs and
services that promote maternal and family health and healthy early childhood development
are crucial in prevention and early intervention.

As part of the
continuum of supports and services to address mental health in children, the
FRIENDS For Life program is an example of an evidence-based prevention program
that increases resiliency and prevents anxiety available to grades 4, 5 and 7
students. Teachers and parents are educated about the prevalence, signs and
impact that anxiety has on children and youth and learn skills to build
children’s resilience and address the early signs of anxiety. FRIENDS in B.C.
is funded and co-ordinated by the Ministry of Children and Family Development
in partnership with school districts around the province.

Since its
provincial launch in 2004, all school districts have participated, as well as
many independent schools. Over 3,000 educators have been trained to deliver
FRIENDS in classrooms, and more than 1,000 parents and caregivers have attended
FRIENDS parent workshops – helping to increase mental health literacy in
schools, families and communities.

‘The FRIENDS
program teaches children how to cope with fears and worries and equips them
with tools to help manage difficult situations, now and later in life,” said
Jonaire Bowyer-Smyth, a behaviour specialist in the Surrey school district and
FRIENDS program trainer. “The FRIENDS program is fun learning for kids and will
benefit them, their parents and their entire family.”

The plan will
achieve results by realigning current resources to invest in what is proven to
work, and linking with existing programs and projects across government to
increase efficiency and effectiveness.

“We need to learn
from the evidence and provide effective and efficient services to achieve the
best outcomes for people,” added Falcon. “We need to stop doing what doesn’t
work in favour of what does and to ensure services are evidence-based and cost-effective.”

The Province is
focusing on delivering programs more efficiently and effectively, including:

·No waitlists at BC
Children’s Hospital Eating Disorders program due to business process redesign.

·Video-conferencing for
training and clinical consultation on community Child and Youth Mental Health
teams to improve access to evidence-based treatment.

·A project underway to
improve patient flow for adult clients with mental health and substance use
problems at six Vancouver Coastal Health hospitals.

In addition,
projects like the Homelessness Intervention Project and the Prolific Offender pilots
show how better integration can enhance services without new dollars.

“Intervention and
front-line outreach, to ensure B.C.’s most vulnerable citizens have access to
supportive housing, is a crucial element to ending the cycle of challenges
associated with mental illness and addictions,” said Social Development
Minister Kevin Krueger. “The province has Homelessness Intervention Projects in
five communities and 58 Homeless Outreach programs in communities throughout
B.C. which have made a tremendous difference in over 770 people’s lives during
the first few months of 2010 alone.”

Improvements in
addressing mental health and substance use in B.C. include:

·75 per cent more
community beds for adults with mental health problems since 2001 for a total of
8,662 beds.

·Opening the 100-bed
Burnaby Centre for Mental Health and Addiction to treat those with the most
severe mental health and addiction issues.

·182 per cent increase
since 2003 in community beds for people with substance use problems to 2,550;

·Increasing the number
of family doctors providing mental health and substance use services from 4,194
in 2001 to 4,574 in 2008-09.

·Being the first
province in Western Canada to have dedicated withdrawal management beds for
youth – there are currently 39.

·In 2003, B.C. became
the first province to establish and then implement a Child and Youth Mental
Health Plan that doubled the funding and significantly increased access to an
enhanced continuum of services and supports.

For more information on government services
or to subscribe to the Province’s news feeds using RSS, visit the Province’s
website at www.gov.bc.ca.

BACKGROUNDER 1

For Immediate Release2010HSERV0063-001350

Nov. 1, 2010

Ministry of Health
Services
Ministry of Children and Family Development

MILESTONES
FOR ACHIEVEMENT

Milestones will help mark the plan’s
progress over the course of the next 10 years. The plan also provides detailed
actions and targets for specific population groups. Further milestones, actions
and targets will be developed in collaboration with the key partners involved
in the plan.

·The
number of British Columbians who experience positive mental health will
increase by 10 per cent by 2018. In 2008, 68 per cent of British Columbians
reported they experienced positive mental health.

·The
number of young B.C. children who are vulnerable in terms of social-emotional
development will decrease by 15 per cent by 2015. In 2008, 13 per cent of B.C.
kindergarten children demonstrated vulnerability related to social competence
and 12 per cent demonstrated vulnerability related to emotional maturity.

·By
2014, 10 per cent fewer B.C. students will first use alcohol or cannabis before
the age of 15. In 2008, of all students who reported ever drinking alcohol, 75
per cent first tried it before age 15. Of students who reported ever using
cannabis, 67 per cent first tried it before age 15.

·The
proportion of British Columbians 15 years of age or older who engage in
hazardous drinking will be reduced by 10 per cent by 2015. In 2008, 23.1 per
cent of British Columbians, aged 15 or more, reported hazardous consumption of
alcohol.

·By
2015, the number of British Columbians who receive mental health and substance
use assessments and planning interventions by primary care physicians will
increase by 20 per cent. In 2008-09, 51,033 people received these services.

·By
2018, through implementation of integrated primary and mental health and
substance use services, there will be a 20 per cent reduction in the number of
days mental health and substance use patients occupy inpatient beds while
waiting for appropriate community resources. In 2008-09, there were 75,838
inpatient days for mental health and substance use patients who no longer
required acute care, and who were waiting for appropriate community resources.

-30-

Media Contacts:

Michelle Stewart

Communications Director

Ministry of Health Services

Public Affairs Bureau

250 952-1889

Christine Ash

Media Relations

Ministry of Children and Family
Development

250 356-1639

For more information on government services
or to subscribe to the Province’s news feeds using RSS, visit the Province’s
website at www.gov.bc.ca.

BACKGROUNDER 2

For Immediate Release2010HSERV0063-001350

Nov. 1, 2010

Ministry of Health
Services
Ministry of Children and Family Development

ACTION
ON MENTAL HEALTH AND SUBSTANCE USE

·Opened the 100-bed Burnaby Centre for Mental Health and Addiction in
2008 as a treatment facility that is helping some of BC’s most vulnerable and
challenged citizens. The centre is the first of its kind in British Columbia.

·Provided $500,000 for recovery and treatment support for patients at
the Baldy Hughes Addiction Treatment Centre, outside of Prince George.

·The Province has committed $138 million of capital funding
to build or renovate mental health facilities in communities around British
Columbia as part of the Riverview Redevelopment Project. To date, 441 mental
health beds have opened across the province with plans being finalized to
develop the remaining 402 beds of the Riverview Redevelopment project.

·Opened a $19-million mental health building at BC
Children’s and BC Women’s Hospitals serving children and adolescents with
serious mental health and substance use issues. The facility also houses a
women’s reproductive mental health program.

·Opened
44 transitional, long-term supportive housing beds in 2010 at an annual cost of
$3 million on the Riverview grounds to prepare those clients for
integration back into their communities.

·We
have seen significant improvements – for example:

oThe
number of adult community mental health beds in B.C. has increased by 64 per
cent, with 3,137 new beds since 2001 (from 4,940 beds to 8,077 beds in 2008-09).

oThe
number of community addictions beds has increased by 205 per cent, with 1,788
new beds since 2003 (from 874 beds in 2003 to 2,662 beds in 2008-09).

oThe
number of general practitioners providing mental health and addictions services
increased from 4,194 in 2001/02 to 4,574 in 2008-09.

oThe
number of psychiatrists increased from 527 in 2001-02 to 647 in 2008-09.

·B.C.
has invested more than $40 million in building the province’s mental health and
substance use research and workforce development capacity at University of British
Columbia (UBC), University of Victoria, Simon Fraser University (SFU) and
University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC), as well as specialized centres
at the Provincial Health Services Authority, Vancouver Coastal Health and
Providence Health.

·The
Community Action Initiative (CAI) was established through a $10-million grant
from the Province of British Columbia, announced on June 2008. Through
investments in three program streams – Convening, Service Innovation, and
Training – the CAI is providing funding opportunities for community groups and
organizations to support cross-sectoral activities and projects that improve
the mental health of children, youth and adults in British Columbia and reduce
harms related to substance use.

·Assertive
Community Treatment (ACT) teams are an evidence-based service delivery that
provides long-term, comprehensive services to individuals with severe mental
illness who are not well-served by traditional, office-based services. The
teams are made up of various health and social care professionals that reach
out to clients and are available 24/7 covering a range of services including
housing, physical health assessments, income support, employment and crisis
planning. With an investment of $7.5 million, there are ACT teams in place in
Victoria, Nanaimo, Vancouver and Prince George.

·Bounce
Back: Reclaim Your Health is a $6-million program designed to help adults
experiencing symptoms of depression and anxiety that may arise from stress or
other life circumstances. The project is led by CMHA BC Division and funded by
the BC Ministry of Health Services. Bounce Back offers two forms of help. The
first is a DVD video providing practical tips on managing mood and healthy
living, available in English, Mandarin and Cantonese. The second service
available is a guided self-help program with telephone support. The program
teaches skills to overcome unhelpful thinking, reduced activities, low
socialization and sleep problems, as well as strategies for problem-solving,
through the help of a Bounce Back community coach. The guided self-help program
is available in English and Cantonese. Access to the guided self-help program
requires a doctor's referral. More information is available at: www.cmha.bc.ca/bounceback

·Physician
mental health plans are a GPSC mental health program developing collaboratively
between the Ministry of Health Services and the BC Medical Association. The
$6-million program supports and compensates family physicians for the time and
skill it takes to work with patients with mental health illnesses. Physicians
develop care plans in collaboration with the patient and their support network
and, where needed, become an active member of a broader care team in order to
help those patients remain safely in their community.

·Future funding potential through integrated
primary and community care and attachment programs and projects.

·Future funding potential through Patient-Focused
Funding.

-30-

Media Contacts:

Michelle Stewart

Communications Director

Ministry of Health Services

Public Affairs Bureau

250 952-1889

Christine Ash

Media Relations

Ministry of Children and Family
Development

250 356-1639

For more information on government services
or to subscribe to the Province’s news feeds using RSS, visit the Province’s
website at www.gov.bc.ca.

BACKGROUNDER 3

For Immediate Release2010HSERV0063-001350

Nov. 1, 2010

Ministry of Health
Services
Ministry of Children and Family Development

CONSULTATION
SUMMARY

In September 2006, the provincial
government launched the year-long Conversation on Health, asking British
Columbians to share their ideas on health and B.C.’s public health-care system.
More than 6,000 British Columbians participated in the forums held across the
province and more than 12,000 submissions were received. Change to better
support overall health, including addressing mental health and/or substance
use, was a key theme.

The common themes which emerged became the
foundation of the public and stakeholder engagement on mental health and
substance use system improvement – a key component in developing the 10-year
plan.

In 2008, interest groups across the
province helped shape directions in this plan through a series of workshops.
The plan was further shaped through a broader consultation process with service
providers and affected individuals and families in 2009. This included a
consultative reference group established through B.C.’s tripartite process to
ensure the plan is congruent with Aboriginal perspectives on mental health and
well-being, and establishes a foundation for the development of a complementary
tripartite Aboriginal plan to address mental health and substance use.

Organizations that participated in the
engagement/consultation process for the development of the 10 Year Plan to
Address Mental Health and Substance Use include: